Memorial Day: The value of belated military medals

Michael McCord

Sunday

May 30, 2010 at 2:00 AM

This Memorial Day, Bill Nostrom will raise the American flag at his Newmarket home as he does every day and give thanks to those who served and died defending the country he loves. What will be different is that the U.S. Navy veteran has two more service medals than last year.

This Memorial Day, Bill Nostrom will raise the American flag at his Newmarket home as he does every day and give thanks to those who served and died defending the country he loves. What will be different is that the U.S. Navy veteran has two more service medals than last year.

Though the efforts of Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., Nostrom received two medals in March for his service as a sonar man on a destroyer during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and as part of a special expedition in the Antarctic region in 1963. Though more than four decades removed from his honorable military service, after reading a newspaper article a few years ago Nostrom decided "on a whim" to find out if he had gotten all the medals deserved for his service from 1960 to 1964.

"I was curious about the medals and wondered how you do that so I went to the Navy department and found out how to apply," said the retired electrician and farmer. After a year of making little progress through formal bureaucratic channels, he turned to Shea-Porter's staff.

"They took over and in a short time we found out," said Nostrom, whose ship was stationed in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay in October 1962. In addition to service in Antarctica, he later sailed around the world in another exercise. Nostrom received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Antarctic Service Medal — a few days after the Nostrom's youngest son Peter left for Army boot camp.

"We've had veterans in our family from all the major conflicts," he said.

Nostrom is one of many veterans each year who receive belated recognition. There are many reasons why it can take so long — the military bureaucracy, new laws passed by Congress and a lack of knowledge on the part of former service members. The process also has been hampered by a major fire in 1973 at the National Personnel Records Center that destroyed many military personnel records.

In the case of the late Frederica McAfee Richardson, a pilot in the Women Airforce Service Pilot program during World War II, it took Congressional action via a law cosponsored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. At a ceremony in Exeter this spring, Richardson's family received the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor, for her role in flying non-combat missions — such as towing targets for anti-aircraft gunning practice — to ensure more male pilots were available for overseas combat missions.

In April, the state's entire Congressional delegation announced it had secured Purple Heart medals for 28 New Hampshire prisoners of war who died in captivity in World War II and the Korean War. It was due to a three-year effort by the N.H. Chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War, led by ex-World War II POW Allan Gavan of Moltonborough.

Gavan said the men had made the ultimate sacrifice in grim circumstances and that their families deserved to know their sacrifices were not forgotten. The men from New Hampshire who died in captivity include Houston Edwards of Portsmouth, Elmer Richard of Exeter and Myron Dick of Durham. Their family members have or will receive their Purple Heart medals given those wounded or killed in action.

"Families went through a lot many years ago," Gavan said. "First they found out by telegram that their husband, brother or father was missing in action and then they were told they were prisoners of war. The unkindest cut of all came when they were told they died in captivity."

And the manner of their deaths, he said, "were not clean," often by execution, being killed when trying to escape or by diseases, which ravaged prison camps.

Gavan said the journey to recognition for veterans is not easy. "Somebody has to get up and make some noise because it takes a long time for the system to work. There's a lot of red tape and bureaucracy that defies description," he said. "The Purple Hearts are the least we can do to recognize the ultimate sacrifice they made for their country."

Nostrom said his medal ceremony was far more emotional than he imagined. "It was a little bit more of a sentimental thing than I expected it to be and it brought back a lot of good memories. I hope this inspires other veterans to go ahead and apply for the medals they deserve."

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